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February 26, 2008
Women of Faith Award winners named
3 honored for ‘visionary work’ in transforming church and society
LOUISVILLE — Two ministers and a laywoman will be honored for their “visionary work in transforming the church and society” as recipients of the 2008 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Women of Faith Awards.
The three are the Rev. Magdalena I. García, pastor of Ravenswood Presbyterian Church, a multicultural and bilingual congregation in Chicago; the Rev. Ann L. Hayman of Santa Monica, CA, founder of the Mary Magdalene Project, a program that provides alternatives to women involved in street prostitution; and Theodora (Thea) Jackson of Brewster, NY, founder of the Jamaica Service Project in Queens, NY, a national model for developing comprehensive and coordinated systems of services for the aging.
The women will be honored at the Women of Faith Breakfast on June 22 during the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s 218th General Assembly in San Jose, CA. Tickets for the breakfast will be available at www.pcusa.org/ga218.
The theme for this year’s awards is “Visionary Women Transforming the Church and Society.”
The awards were established in 1986 to honor female members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) whose lives exemplify their Christian commitment through witness, service and leadership.
The selection committee, comprised of representatives from groups officially related to the PC(USA)’s Racial Ethnic and Women’s Ministries and Presbyterian Women ministry area, received 30 nominations from throughout the church. Criteria include racial-ethnic and geographic diversity.
“These are amazing women following God’s call, transforming society and the church through their work,” said Cynthia Joe, chair of the awards selection committee who resides in San Francisco Presbytery.
More biographical information
The Rev. Magdalena I. García
García is a member of Chicago Presbytery where she has lived for more than 35 years and was ordained in 1993.
The pastor is a member of the presbytery’s multicultural church committee and the Hispanic Ministries fellowship. She currently serves as adjunct faculty for a ministries course at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, and as a teaching pastor at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
The Rev. Magdalena I. Garc ía García was previously associate director of funds development at McCormick, where she received a master’s degree in divinity in 1989.
She has served as preacher, keynote speaker and worship leader for several national and regional church events, including the Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women in 2000, and Encuentro, the national conference of Hispanic Latin Presbyterian Women, in 1998, 2001 and 2007.
Garcia is author of the compendium Toward a Liberating Faith: Introduction to Mujerista Theology, published by the PC(USA)’s Women’s Ministries office. She has been a freelance writer and translator for denominational resources and was previously managing editor for ¡Exito!, a Spanish-language weekly paper that was published in Chicago.
Born in Cuba, García has been married to Augusto Torres of Ecuador for 17 years. They have one son, Miguel Ángel.
The Rev. Ann L. Hayman
Hayman is founder and current director of development of the Mary Magdalene Project, which is a long-term residential program that provides alternatives to women involved in street prostitution in southern California.
The Rev. Ann L. Hayman A native of Caldwell, ID, Hayman graduated from the College of Idaho in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in music education and German. After college she taught typing and journalism for a year at Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, UT, and managed a retirement community for three years.
Hayman graduated in 1978 from San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo, CA. She was ordained as a Presbyterian minister on Epiphany, Sunday, Jan. 6, 1979. She served as an assistant pastor at First Presbyterian Church in El Centro, CA, from 1978 to 1980.
In June 1980, Hayman became program director for the Mary Magdalene Project, a position she held until July 2006 when she became director of development.
Theodora G. Jackson
Jackson, a member of First Presbyterian Church in Katonah, NY, graduated in 1943 from Hampton University in Hampton, VA.
She later founded the Jamaica Service Project in Queens, NY, which became one of two national models of the Administration on Aging for developing comprehensive and coordinated systems of services for the aging. Jackson served as executive director of that multi-service agency until 1980 when she was appointed deputy director of the New York State Office for the Aging.
Theodora Jackson After leaving government service in 1991, Jackson served as consultant on a variety of aging and educational projects. She also became a volunteer at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in the children and parenting programs.
In 1996, she led efforts to reestablishment a college degree program at that correctional facility. Earlier, Thea was also the designer and director of the Older Adult Program in the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, NY, from 1969 to 1972.
Jackson has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the 2002 New York State Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award.
Jackson and her husband, Bailey W. Jackson, have three children, seven grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. |
